loanDepot (LDI) Risk Analysis

The Hsieh Stockholders and Parthenon Stockholders together hold in the aggregate approximately 62.7% of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock, and therefore between them will be able to control all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval (other than those matters requiring a 66 2/3% supermajority vote). Conversely, if the Hsieh Stockholders and the Parthenon Stockholders do not agree, it will be more costly and difficult for us to obtain stockholder approval for matters that require at least a majority vote or that are subject to proxy disputes between them. This concentrated control could limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters for the foreseeable future, including the election of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, and any merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of our assets, or other major corporate transaction requiring stockholder approval. In addition, this may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our capital stock that you may feel are in your best interest as one of our stockholders.

In the ordinary course of its business activities, Anthony Hsieh and Parthenon Capital and its affiliates may engage in activities where their interests conflict with our interests or those of our stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that Anthony Hsieh and Parthenon Capital or any of its officers, directors, agents, stockholders, members, partners, affiliates and subsidiaries have no duty to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us or any of our subsidiaries (provided, that, with respect to Anthony Hsieh, only to the extent that such business is not a core business, defined generally to be a business in which the Company engages or is contemplating engaging in a material respect), even if the opportunity is one that we might reasonably have pursued or had the ability or desire to pursue if granted the opportunity to do so. Other than with respect to Anthony Hsieh, as to any core business, no such person will be liable to us for breach of any fiduciary or other duty, as a director or officer or otherwise, by reason of the fact that such person, acting in good faith, pursues or acquires any such business opportunity, directs any such business opportunity to another person or fails to present any such business opportunity, or information regarding any such business opportunity, to us unless, in the case of any such person who is our director or officer, any such business opportunity is expressly offered to such director or officer solely in his or her capacity as our director or officer.

The Continuing LLC Members may from time to time cause LD Holdings to exchange an equal number of Holdco Units and Class B Common Stock (or prior to February 11, 2026, Class C Common Stock) for cash or Class A Common Stock of loanDepot, Inc. on a one-for-one basis at our election. In addition, we purchased Holdco Units from the Exchanging Members. As a result of these transactions, we expect to become entitled to certain tax basis adjustments reflecting the difference between the price we pay to acquire Holdco Units of LD Holdings and the proportionate share of LD Holdings' tax basis allocable to such units at the time of the exchange. As a result, the amount of tax that we would otherwise be required to pay in the future may be reduced by the increase (for tax purposes) in depreciation and amortization deductions attributable to our interests in LD Holdings, although the U.S. Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") may challenge all or part of that tax basis adjustment, and a court could sustain such a challenge. We entered into a tax receivable agreement with the Parthenon Stockholders, Parthenon affiliates owning Holdco Units and certain of the Continuing LLC Members that provides for the payment by us to such parties or their permitted assignees of 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local tax that we realize or are deemed to realize as a result of (i) the tax basis adjustments referred to above, (ii) any incremental tax basis adjustments attributable to payments made pursuant to the tax receivable agreement and (iii) any deemed interest deductions arising from payments made by us pursuant to the tax receivable agreement. While the actual amount of the adjusted tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under this agreement will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the basis of our proportionate share of LD Holdings' assets on the dates of exchanges, the timing of exchanges, the price of shares of our Class A Common Stock at the time of each exchange, the extent to which such exchanges are taxable, the deductions and other adjustments to taxable income to which LD Holdings is entitled, and the amount and timing of our income, we expect that during the anticipated term of the tax receivable agreement, the payments that we may make to the Parthenon Stockholders, Parthenon affiliates owning Holdco Units and certain of the Continuing LLC Members or their permitted assignees could be substantial. Payments under the tax receivable agreement may give rise to additional tax benefits and therefore to additional potential payments under the tax receivable agreement. In addition, the tax receivable agreement will provide for interest accrued from the due date (without extensions) of the corresponding tax return for the taxable year with respect to which the payment obligation arises to the date of payment under the agreement. Further, upon consummation of our IPO, loanDepot, Inc. acquired a significant equity interest in LD Holdings from LD Investment Holdings, Inc. (the "Parthenon Blocker") after a series of transactions that resulted in Parthenon Blocker merging with and into loanDepot, Inc., with loanDepot, Inc. remaining as the surviving corporation. The Company did not realize any of the cash savings in U.S. federal, state and local tax described above regarding tax basis adjustments and deemed interest deductions in relation to any Class D Common Stock received by the Parthenon Stockholders in the Reorganization Transactions. The Parthenon Stockholders or their permitted assignees, however, are entitled to receive payments under the tax receivable agreement in respect of the cash tax savings, if any, that we realize or are deemed to realize as a result of future exchanges of Holdco Units and Class B or Class C Common Stock for cash or Class A Common Stock of loanDepot, Inc. There may be a material negative effect on our liquidity if, as a result of timing discrepancies or otherwise, (i) the payments under the tax receivable agreement exceed the actual benefits we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the tax receivable agreement, and/or (ii) distributions to us by LD Holdings are not sufficient to permit us to make payments under the tax receivable agreement after it has paid its taxes and other obligations. For example, were the IRS to challenge a tax basis adjustment, or other deductions or adjustments to the taxable income of LD Holdings or its subsidiaries, none of the parties to the tax receivable agreement will reimburse us for any payments that may previously have been made under the tax receivable agreement, except that excess payments made to the Parthenon Stockholders, Parthenon affiliates owning Holdco Units and certain of the Continuing LLC Members or their permitted assignees will be netted against payments otherwise to be made, if any, after our determination of such excess. As a result, in certain circumstances we could make payments to the Parthenon Stockholders, Parthenon affiliates owning Holdco Units and certain of the Continuing LLC Members or their permitted assignees under the tax receivable agreement in excess of our ultimate cash tax savings. In addition, the payments under the tax receivable agreement are not conditioned upon any recipient's continued ownership of interests in us or LD Holdings. The Parthenon Stockholders, Parthenon affiliates owning Holdco Units and certain of the Continuing LLC Members will receive payments under the tax receivable agreement until such time that they validly assign or otherwise transfer their rights to receive such payments.

The holders of LD Holdings Units, including loanDepot, Inc., will incur U.S. federal, state and local income taxes on their proportionate share of any taxable income of LD Holdings. Net profits and net losses of LD Holdings will generally be allocated to the holders of Holdco Units (including loanDepot, Inc.) pro rata in accordance with their respective share of the net profits and net losses of LD Holdings. The Holdings LLC Agreement provides for cash distributions to each holder of Holdco Units (including loanDepot Inc.), which we refer to as "tax distributions," based on certain assumptions. LD Holdings may be required to make tax distributions that, in the aggregate, may exceed the amount of taxes that LD Holdings would have paid if it were taxed on its net income at the assumed rate. Funds used by LD Holdings to satisfy its tax distribution obligations will not be available for reinvestment in our business. Moreover, the tax distributions that LD Holdings will be required to make may be substantial, and may exceed (as a percentage of LD Holdings' income) the overall effective tax rate applicable to a similarly situated corporate taxpayer. These tax distributions may have a material negative effect on our liquidity.

The market price of our Class A Common Stock has been, and may continue to be, highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations. In addition, the trading volume in our Class A Common Stock has fluctuated, and may continue to fluctuate, and cause significant price variations. In fact, the closing market price of our Class A Common Stock has ranged between $1.02 and $31.48 since our IPO priced in February 2021. Securities markets worldwide experience significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market or political conditions, could reduce the market price of shares of our Class A Common Stock in spite of our operating performance. In addition, our results of operations could be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors due to a number of potential factors, including variations in our quarterly or annual results of operations; additions or departures of key management personnel; changes in our earnings estimates (if provided) or failure to meet analysts' earnings estimates; publication of research reports about our industry; litigation and government investigations; changes or proposed changes in laws or regulations or differing interpretations or enforcement thereof affecting our business; adverse market reaction to any indebtedness we may incur or securities we may issue in the future; changes in market valuations of similar companies or speculation in the press or the investment community with respect to us or our industry; adverse announcements by us or others and developments affecting us; announcements by our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, dispositions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments; actions by institutional stockholders; increases in market interest rates that may lead investors in our shares to demand a higher yield; and other risk factors detailed in this Item 1A, and in response the market price of shares of our Class A Common Stock could decreases significantly. You may be unable to resell your shares of Class A Common Stock at or above your purchase price, or at all. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a company's securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. Any such litigation brought against us could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management's attention and resources. For additional information about the litigation in which we are involved, see "Item 3. Legal Proceedings".

In the future, we may attempt to obtain financing or to further increase our capital resources by issuing additional shares of our Class A Common Stock or offering additional debt or other equity securities, including commercial paper, medium-term notes, senior or subordinated notes, debt securities convertible into equity or shares of preferred stock. Future acquisitions could require substantial additional capital in excess of cash from operations. Issuing additional shares of our Class A Common Stock or other equity securities or securities convertible into equity may dilute the economic and voting rights of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of our Class A Common Stock or both. Upon liquidation, holders of such debt securities and preferred shares, if issued, and lenders with respect to other borrowings would receive a distribution of our available assets prior to the holders of our Class A Common Stock. Debt securities convertible into equity could be subject to adjustments in the conversion ratio pursuant to which certain events may increase the number of equity securities issuable upon conversion. Preferred shares, if issued, could have a preference with respect to liquidating distributions or a preference with respect to dividend payments that could limit our ability to pay dividends to the holders of our Class A Common Stock. Our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, which may adversely affect the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings.

While, as of March 10, 2026, we have a total of 228,821,318 shares of Class A Common Stock issued and outstanding, 106,207,433 additional shares of Class A Common Stock may be issued upon the exercise of the exchange and /or conversion rights described elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K (assuming all outstanding 106,207,433 Holdco Units together with an equal number of shares of Class B Common Stock are exchanged for shares of Class A Common Stock). As these holders continue to exercise their right to exchange their shares or units into shares of our Class A common Stock, the stock price of our Class A Common Stock could drop significantly if the market perceives this as an intent to sell these shares. In addition, shares of our Class A Common Stock or securities convertible or exchangeable for shares of our Class A Common Stock granted or reserved for future issuance pursuant to our 2021 Omnibus Incentive Plan or other equity plans or programs become eligible for sale in the public market once those shares are issued in accordance with the terms of applicable award agreements and equity plans and subject to Rule 144, as applicable. In 2024, we filed an S-3 registration statement registering 241,800,107 shares of our Class A Common Stock for the Hsieh Stockholders and the Parthenon Stockholders. These holders have registration rights that could permit them to sell additional securities into the open market. During 2025, our directors and Section 16 executive officers sold 22,324,950 shares. The sale of substantial amounts of shares of our Class A Common Stock in the public market, whether in concentrated transactions or over time, or the perception that such sales could occur, including sales by the Hsieh Stockholders, the Parthenon Stockholders, other Continuing LLC Members, our directors, or our management may have had, and could have, an adverse effect on our stock price and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional stock.

Although our Class A Common Stock is currently listed on the NYSE under the symbol "LDI," an active trading market for our shares may not be sustained. Accordingly, if an active trading market for our Class A Common Stock is not maintained, the liquidity of our Class A Common Stock, your ability to sell your shares of our Class A Common Stock when desired and the prices that you may obtain for your shares of Class A Common Stock will be adversely affected.

The trading market for our Class A Common Stock depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our Class A Common Stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price may decline or not accurately reflect our underlying value. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our Company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our Class A Common Stock could decrease, which might cause our stock price and trading volume to decline. In addition, if our operating results fail to meet the expectations of securities analysts, our stock price would likely decline.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, or stockholders to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine will have to be brought only in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks jurisdiction, any other state court of the State of Delaware, or if no state court of the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware),unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum. The foregoing provision does not apply to claims arising under the Securities Act, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), or other federal securities laws for which there is exclusive federal or concurrent federal and state jurisdiction. Additionally, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in our common stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum selection provisions described in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Although we believe these exclusive forum provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law and federal securities laws in the types of lawsuits to which each applies, the exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder as a result of our exclusive forum provisions. Further, in the event a court finds either exclusive forum provision contained in our certificate of incorporation to be unenforceable or inapplicable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.